


Horizon

by Jaemins_smile



Series: Woosan fics [2]
Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Ateez are vagabonds!, Boys Kissing, Falling In Love, Implied Sexual Content, Jealousy, Love Confessions, M/M, Minor Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa, Prince San, Royal guard Seonghwa, Shiber the horse, Unrequited Love, runaways - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-13
Updated: 2020-02-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:07:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22697611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jaemins_smile/pseuds/Jaemins_smile
Summary: All San has ever wanted in life was ti experience it.He wanted to leave the palace and learn what the world really was, was it beautiful like he always thought it was? Was it awful like he didn't want to believe?He always felt that there was more for him in life than becoming king, is he right or not?
Relationships: Choi San & Park Seonghwa, Choi San/Jung Wooyoung, Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa
Series: Woosan fics [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1608334
Kudos: 32





	Horizon

**Author's Note:**

> Idk where this came from but it's here and I stayed up all night twice in a row to finish so yeah, enjoy.
> 
> No trigger warnings this time!

He was sat in his window, his legs hanging out, feet dangling over the side. 

The sunrise was beautiful this morning, the pink and oranges mixing beautifully with the light purples. (I've never seen a sunrise don't @ me) 

It amazed San that such a beautiful thing existed in the world, it made him wonder what other beauties were out there. 

He had never been outside the castle, never been able to experience the beauty that was the world. 

His best friend Seonghwa had told him stories of all the places he had been to when he was young, told him about all of the amazing things he's seen. 

That's all he had though, stories. He had no experiences of his own, no stories of his own to tell.

Of course he knew that the world wasn't all beautiful, he knew there were bad and ugly things out there. 

But he still didn't let that stop him from only seeing the world as a beautiful place, a beautiful creation. 

He wanted to experience it while he could, he wanted to live his life to the fullest while there was still time. 

He knew he didn't have forever, his father was growing old and would soon resign from being king and pass down the title to San. 

He needed to see what was out there, who knows, maybe there was something out there better for him than being the king. 

He wanted to know what the ocean was like, was it cold? Was it warm? Was it really salty like everyone said it was? 

He wanted to feel the sun against his skin, wanted to feel the sand between his toes. Wanted to feel the spray of the ocean on his face. 

He wanted to walk through the forest, he wanted to able to feel the grass beneath his feet, see the animals go about their day as they always did, wanted to smell the sweet scent of the forest. 

He wanted to sit by a campfire with the most important people in his life and watch as the sunset, maybe even watch the stars afterwards, enjoy their company. 

He wanted to live freely before it was to late. 

He wanted to know what life was like for others outside the palace. He wanted to hear their stories, wanted to hear about their experience in the world, hear their hardships and successes and anything else he could. 

He wanted to know what is was like to work for something, what it was like to be determined, what it was like to fight for what was right. 

He wanted to be able to help people with their work, help them get through rough times. 

He wanted to be a part of the world in another way than just being the king. 

And he would. 

"Prince San!" A voice startled him from his thoughts, almost causing him to fall out of the window. 

"How many times do I have to tell you to knock and that it's just San? Hwa, we've been friends since I was nine, drop the formalities all ready." He sighed as he swung his legs around to get out of the window. 

"Sorry San, anyways I came to tell you that you have a meeting with your father in an hour." His best friend said with a roll of his eyes. 

"I won't be going, I'm not going to be here." San said giggling. 

The look on Seonghwa's face made him break out into full on laughs. 

"Excuse me what? What do you mean?" 

"I'm leaving! Isn't that crazy? I'm going to pack a few things and then I'm going to leave, you're welcome to join me if you'd like." San said with the biggest smile on his face. 

Seonghwa would be lying if he said the offer wasn't tempting, but if he allowed this to happen, the king would have his head on a platter. 

"I can't let you do that San." He sighed deeply and crossed his arms. He really didn't want to do this, he knew how San was about seeing the world. 

He had told Seonghwa many times about how he felt like he was in prison, he wasn't allowed to leave the castle under any circumstances, he wasn't allowed to experience the outside world, his parents didn't even let him have a normal childhood like the other kids, he was forced to be proper, all work no play. 

Despite that, it never stopped San from being a cheery, loud, and childish young man. 

"Hwa, there is no stopping me and you know that. I'm going to leave ..even if that means I have to kick your butt." He said raising his fists playfully. 

Seonghwa sighed again, "I'm so going to regret this." He whined and dropped his arms to his sides, "Alright San, you win, get some things packed quickly so we can get out of here quickly. Meet me at the guards quarters." And with that Seonghwa was gone. 

San squealed and jumped up and down in excitement. He quickly packed two outfits and a dagger, a bit of money just in case. 

He then quietly made his way to the guards quarters where Seonghwa was already waiting with a dumb smile on his face. 

Seonghwa lead him to a back exit and rushed him to the stables and was strapping their bags to the horse named Shiber instantly.

He swiftly helped San on to Shuber and got on after him. They were out of the castle grounds in no time 

San was practically vibrating with excitement as they made their way to the village. 

San forced Seonghwa to stop the horse when he seen a young woman struggling to carry her groceries and children at the same time. 

He jumped off Shiber and grabbed the bags from the woman before she could drop them. 

She started crying from his action as soon as they reached her home, "Thank you so much young man, that's very kind of you. Here I'll give you something as a thanks." She said as she rummaged through her things looking for something. 

"No ma'am, I don't want anything from you. You already gave me the greatest reward, and that was letting me help you. I wish you well ma'am." He bowed and headed back to the horse, feeling better than he ever has. 

"This is truly amazing Hwa, you don't understand how good it felt to help that woman." He said happily. His joy showed on his face, his smile was the brightest it's ever been in his life. 

He wished to get more opportunities like that to help people. He had leaned from just that one time that helping others was his favorite thing in the world. 

It felt good to be able to help others, it made him feel warm inside, it made him feel like he was good for something other than sitting still and looking like a porcelain doll. 

"I might have an idea of it San, I get to help someone everyday, it feels really good." Seonghwa replied softly. 

They had been riding for two days, which felt like years before they came across a forest. Sans heart practically jumped out of his chest at that. 

"Seonghwa! It's a forest, you have to stop!" He was already climbing off Shiber before Seonghwa had stopped. 

He immediately threw himself in the grass, he let the cool blades brush against his face and hands. It felt odly comforting and familiar. 

He stayed still and listened. 

Wind in the tree leaves, a small creak running nearby, animals eating the leave of trees, birds chirping happily. 

This was what he had missed his entire life, it felt like he finally found the piece of him that was missing, he felt whole out here. 

He felt free.

He felt like he was going to explode from the happiness the forest brought him. He never would've thought a forest of all things would bring him so much joy. 

The joy he felt from this fuelled the fire in his heart to continue on and experience everything else he wanted to. 

"Seonghwa, i think this was the best decision of my life. I feel so free." He said softly. 

"I've never been more happy than I am now Hwa. In this moment I feel like I can do anything, like I can accomplish all of my dreams. Especially with you by my side, my best friend, Seonghwa. " He smiled brightly at his friend, who was still with the horse. 

He smiled softly at San, he looked so incredibly happy and beautiful laying in the slightly damp grass, the first rays of the morning sun shining down on his face through the leaves of the big oak tree standing before them. 

"I feel like I'm serving a purpose out here, I've never felt like this before. Hyung I feel like I finally belong somewhere." He said fighting back a sob, tears had already started streaming down his face. 

He was glad he agreed to go with San, if he hadn't he wouldn't be able to see his friend looking so peaceful, so free 

That's all he ever wanted for his friend, to feel free and like he belonged somewhere. God knows that was all San wanted as well. 

Back at the castle he was always depressed and struggled to see his worth and see what big of a role he played in the world. He felt trapped in the castle and like he wasn't doing enough for the world. 

"Alright San, let's get going." Seonghwa said walking towards him to help him back to his feet. 

"I'm afraid not pretty boy." A voice said, giggling afterwards. In a flash Seonghwa was knocked to the ground, pinned down by two strong men. 

San scream and scrambled to his feet. 

"San! Run!" Seonghwa yelled at him, being smacked immediately afterwards. 

San turned around and started running deeper in the forest, unfortunately a tall man was in his path and was picking him up off his feet

San scream once again and flailed against the tall man. "Jeez kid! You're making this difficult for both of us!" The man complained and dropped San to the gorund infront of a shorter man

The shorter man pulled San up by the arm and examined his face carefully, smiling faintly. "You're the prince aren't you?" He asked mockingly. 

"Don't answer him!" 

San gulped and shut his eyes tight, willing himself not to cry. These were the bad things in the world he had been warned about, the things he didn't take seriously. 

The tall man from before hooked his arms under San's, holding him in place and the shorter man kept talking. 

"What brings the prince out here with an incompetent guard into our forest? Quite the dangerous game you're playing pretty boy." He giggled and stroked his face. 

San's heart was racing, tears streaming down his face. He pulled against the tall man, sobbing loudly when he couldn't break free, "I'm sorry! I had no idea the forest belonged to you, I'm so sorry, please don't hurt Seonghwa, please I'll do anything!" He pleaded with the shorter man. 

"Anything you say?" A new voice asked. "Quiet the willing one, don't ya think Jung?" He asked as he looked San up and down, examining his physical

"Indeed he is Kang." He grabbed San's chin and ghosted his lips across his ear, "You're very stupid for a prince, willing to do anything for a meer guard." 

"Seonghwa means everything to me, I'd do anything for him." San's voice was sad. For the first time since the man named Jung started speaking to him he opened his eyes, looking over at Seonghwa who was being held against the ground. 

Jung went to speak again but shut his mouth and paled when a new voice sounded from somewhere 

"That's quite enough out of you Jung." 

A small man dropped down from the big oak tree and glared at all of the men present, save for San and Seonghwa. 

"I expected more out you boys, needlessly terrorizing two young men, you made the poor thing cry for Christ's sake. Let them go will you." He sighed and started pulling the men off Seonghwa. 

He smiled softly when he seen his face, "Fancy seeing you here Seonghwa." He bowed deeply and hugged him loosely, to which Seonghwa returned, 

"Hongjoong." He said softly with a nod of his head. 

The tall man released San who immediately took off running. Two voices yelled at him to come back but he payed them no mind and kept running.

"Fantastic! The prince is going to get himself killled, amazing job Wooyoung." Hongjoong hissed, rubbing his eyes in frustration.

"Mingi, Wooyoung, Yunho, go look for him. If you don't come back with him, we will be selling your organs to the witches." He threatened, a dark look in his eyes. 

The three boys took off running to find the prince. 

San didn't know where he was at or where he had come from, he just kept running until of course, he tripped. 

He tripped over a root growing out of the ground, falling face first into a jagged rock, it hurt incredibly bad, screaming loudly as he made contact with it.

The rather large cut on his face spilt his blood all over his face. He looked around panicked, what if someone had heard him? 

He jumped to his feet to start running again but fell on his butt right away, his head hurt badly from the fall. 

He craddled his head in his hands for only a moment before he was on his feet again when he heard a sound from somewhere to his left. 

A familiar face appeared from the left and smiled gently ay him, "Hi." He said softly, slowly approaching San. 

"S-stay away from me." San warned as he back up, tripping over a rock, almost falling backwards had it not been for the short man grabbing his hand. 

"Look prince Choi, your boyfriend Seonghwa is having a heart attack over you running off and if I don't get you back to him my organs are going to be sold to a coven, so do us both a favor and just come with me." He said bluntly. He barely retained his laugh at San's look of terror 

"He's not my boyfriend." He mumbled annoyed. 

San reluctantly agreed to go with Wooyoung and took a hesitant step towards him, regretting it right away as he grabbed San's wrist and pulled him along. 

Within seconds they were back with everyone else, a relieved smile graced Seonghwa's face when he saw the prince. 

"San! You're okay correct? This idiot didn't do this to you did he?" He asked as he grabbed San's face and turned it to make sure he wasn't hurt anywhere else, he then proceeded to look over his arms. 

San shook his head, still not being able to form words. He hugged Seonghwa tightly and eyed all the men suspiciously 

"Prince San, I apologize on behalf of Wooyoung. I am sincerely sorry for the way my men have treated you and Seonghwa, if you'd let me make it up to you, I'd like to take you back to our camp and treat you to lunch." Hongjoong said bowing deeply. 

San nodded slightly at the man and followed him when he walked away, beckoning for everyone to come with him. 

The campsite was adorable and everything San had imagined a camp to look like. 

There was one tent off to the side, blankets lazily folded and stacked next to it, San assumed that's what they all slept on. 

A small fire burned away in a ring of rocks, a pot of soup simmering over it. 

A tall man emerged from the opposite side of the clearing carrying a bucket of water, he gave the group a once over, smiling slightly at them and walked over to the pot of soup.

Once the soup was ready the group of men rushed over, smothering the man named Jongho in hugs, thanking him for cooking. 

Seonghwa stood off to the side, watching the other men. 

Meanwhile San was wandering around the clearing, admiring everything his eyes caught. The small anthills, the overgrown bushes, the fallen leaves, the birds building a nest. 

He was like a small child that got amazed by everything and anything. Then again, in a way he kind of was. 

He had never gotten a proper childhood or life in general. He still had a childlike mentality when it came to some things, especially in difficult or different situations he wasn't used to. 

It was sometimes frustrating for Seonghwa to deal with but he would deal with anything for San. 

If Seonghwa had to guess that was probably what San struggled with the most, he hated that his mind hadn't fully matured from a child's. 

That was another reason he wanted to leave the palace, he believed that if he experienced the world that his mind would finally mature properly. He didn't actually believe it but he still wanted to. 

"Seonghwa hyung! Look!" He ran over to Seonghwa who was now sitting with the rest of the men eating. He was holding a grasshopper in his hand, it was a pale green color, and quite large as well. 

"Isn't it pretty?" He asked as he switched it to his other hand. 

Seonghwa nodded and offered for him to show the others. San shook his head aggressively and stomped away, back to where he found the bug. 

Out if the corner of his eye he could see Wooyoung watching the prince, a dumb smile on his face. 

"Hey San, why don't you come eat?" 

"No! I don't wanna!" He yelled back. He was crouched by a tree stump, pulling blades off grass out and stacking them on top of the stump. 

Seonghwa sighed and picked up the bowl that was set aside for him and brought it over to him, "San, please eat this, it's really good, you'll like it. You haven't eaten all day and we both know how you get when you don't eat." He said teasingly and offered him the bowl again. 

"Fine." He huffed loudly and took the bowl from the older man. Seonghwa smiled triumphantly and walked back over to the others. 

"You have a way with him don't you?" Hongjoong asked fondly. 

"Yeah, I'm really the only one he listens to." 

"Why is that?" Wooyoung asked, still watching San as he gathered all the blades off grass in his hands. 

"Because I'm his friend and I treat him as more than the prince. That's the whole point of us being out here actually, he wants to be more than the prince, he wants to do more than just wait for the title of king to be passed to him." Seonghwa sighed deeply as he watched the younger. 

San honestly worried Seonghwa. He wasn't sure if it was the best idea to let the younger leave the palace. 

Wooyoung hummed in response and was silent for the rest of the time. 

San slowly shuffled his way over to the group who were talking on and off, "thank you for the meal." He said shyly and handed Seonghwa his bowl and took off running back to the tree stump. 

"He's cute, Hwa. Better keep him safe." Hongjoong commented sarcastically. 

"I'm gonna show San something." Wooyoung said and got up from his spot and made his way to the prince. 

Seonghwa kept a close eye on him as he spoke quietly to San, his hand was on his sword hilt, ready to attack the younger if needed. 

San was laughing hard as Wooyoung kept talking to him. Soon they were both standing up and walking to a different side of the clearing. 

San sprinted back to Seonghwa and dropped to his knees next to him, "Look Hyung. Aren't they pretty?" He asked softly as he handed him one of the many small pink flowers in his hands.

"They are Sanie, they're very pretty. Did Wooyoung show you these?" He ran a hand through San's hair as he spoke, smiling fondly at him 

"Mhm! He showed me them and told me I could take as many as I wanted, and look! He put one behind my ear and said it made me look pretty." He smiled over at Wooyoung who was now sitting back in his original spot. 

"And I was right. You look very pretty San." 

After a long while of them talking to the ragtag group of boys San fianlly spoke up, "I don't want to leave Hyung. I want to stay here." He pouted adorably

"I want you to stay too!" Mingi yelled, making them all laugh. 

"Well, you guys are welcome to stay with us if you want. We don't stay in one place for all that long though so don't get to comfortable in one place." Hongjoong was staring intensely at Seonghwa as he spoke, as if he was waiting for him to say something. 

San looked up at him with pleading eyes and Seonghwa's heart did flips, he couldn't say no to that face, "alright, we'll stay with you for a litlke while." He wrapped an arm around San's shoulders and squeezed him gently as to not hurt him. 

A little while was a day at most  
A day turned into a few days  
A few days turned into a few weeks  
A few weeks turned into a few months  
A few months turned into forever. 

San finally found where he belonged, he found that thing that was out there waiting for him, and he couldn't be happier. 

He was actually free out here. He could do what he wanted when pleased, go where he wanted whenever he wanted. 

Out here with the boys he was just Choi San. Not Prince Choi San. 

They acknowledged him as one of them, they didn't care what his background was as long as he played his part and got along with everyone. 

They all grew to love each other like they were family, and in some way they really were.

He had a real family now, one that actually cared about him and took care of him. 

One person in particular San felt more than just family love for, that person was there for him when he needed, he dealt with San's problems and accepted him for them and loved him still despite them. 

He knew exactly how to talk San down when he was in his worst moments, gave him as much affection and care as he needed, listened carefully when San went on one of his rants about the world. 

He knew when San was pretending to be happy, he would take him far away from the others and would be there for him when he finally let it all out.

He was absolutely in love with him. He'd only known him for a short amount of time but it didn't stop him from having as strong of feelings as he did for him.

For Wooyoung. 

And then there was Seonghwa, his best friend, his brother, his soulmate. 

He became mean the longer they stayed with the group, especially to Wooyoung. 

He assumd that Seonghwa was jealous of San and Wooyoung, for what reason though? Nothing was actually going on between them. 

He was broken from his thoughts when he felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist, pulling him against a chest, "You look deep in thought, that's new." Wooyoung teased.

"Hmm yeah. Let's go walk." He stated quickly, he immediately set off on walking, keeping Wooyoung's arms around his waist, making it harder for both of them to walk. 

Seonghwa watched the pair disappear down the hill, anger evident on his face. He didn't know why he suddenly started feeling this way for San, or why he got so protective of him, sure he's always been protective of him but not to this extent. 

"Hwa, you in there? You're soupposed to be helping me." Hongjoong said with a small smile. 

"Sorry, I can't seem to focus on it." He shook his head and tried to go back to helping Hongjoong prepare their dinner. 

"Well, you can go for a walk to clear your head, I can get Yeosang to do this and I can join you." He offered with a big smile, it made Seonghwa frown slightly. 

"No thanks Joong, I just need to be alone for a while." He stood up from his spot next to Hongjoong and walked away quickly.

"Oh, okay then." The youger visibly deflated when Seonghwa walked away without a second thought.

Maybe he was following San and Wooyoung, maybe he was overly jealous, maybe he wanted to make sure they weren't doing anything, he would never admit it though. 

He kept a great distance from them, keeping quiet as to not alert them of his presence. 

San shoved Wooyoung after he whispered something I his ear, he shoved him a bit to hard and knocked him off balance, sending him rolling down the hill. 

San tried to run after him but being the ditz he was he ended up tripping over his own feet. Before he could react San was tumbling down the hill as well, screaming as he did. 

From the middle of the hill where Seonghwa stood, he could see that San had landed on top of Wooyoung and they were now face to face, staring at each other. 

He saw red when Wooyoung leaned up and connected their lips, it infuriated him even further when San cupped his face and reciprocated. 

He turned on his heal and stomped back up the hill, grabbing Hongjoong up by his arm, startling the shorter.

"Hwa! You scar-" he was cut off by Seonghwa slamming his lips against his own. 

He wasn't angry about it, just surprised. He confessed to Seonghwa a month prior and had been politely rejected. 

He whined and wrapped his arms around Seonghwa's neck. Seonghwa growled and picked him up, bringing him into the tent where some very intimate things took place. 

Wooyoung whispered a stupid joke right in his ear, making San bust out laughing, he shoved him a bit to hard he soupposed. 

Wooyoung went tumbling, following shortly after him. 

They landed in a heap at the bottom of the hill, laughing hard after he processed what happened only moments ago

He laid his head against Wooyoung's head as they both laughed hard, "I am so sorry." He said between laughs. 

Wooyoung shook his head and ruffled San's hair, "It's fine because it's you." That caused San to look uo at Wooyoung. 

He had a look of pure adoration and fondness on his face, it made San's heart flutter. He wanted to kiss Wooyoung so bad in that moment. 

"San, you're such a beautiful person." He leaned up and gently connected their lips. As soon as he felt San's hands cupping his face, he placed his hands on his hips as they continued to kiss passionately. 

San broke away first, breathless and panting, and rolled off Wooyoung. His heart was beating imposibly fast, he just kissed the man he was madly in love with. 

The were both silent for a good while as they both processed what they had done.

He heard Wooyoung clear his throat and moving from beside him,"We should head back." He offered his hand to help San up, a sheepish smile on his face.

San nodded faintly and took his hand, following him back up the hill reluctantly. However, he stopped them not even halfway up. 

"Why did you kiss me Wooyoung?" He asked fearing the answer he would get. There were many possibilities of what he could say and no matter what it would be it would probably still terrify San. 

"Hm, I don't quite know if I'm being honest, it just felt rght in that moment." He shrugged his shoulders and kicked up some dirt.

"You didn't mean anything by it then?" 

"No why? Did you?" Wooyoung asked with wide eyes. 

San knew that his face fell, a frown now present on his face, "No." He replied simply and started slowly walking again. 

He didn't know why he felt so let down, he already knew that Wooyoung felt nothing but friendship towards him but some part of him was still holding out hope. 

He wished that Wooyoung lied to him just then and that he actually did mean something by it, and maybe Wooyoung really did like San back.

Deep down he knew that he could never be with Wooyoung even if they had mutual feelings, and because of this he would never say anything or act upon his feelings, especially not since he would one day have to leave, he was heir to the thrown after all, he couldn't stay here forever, he couldn't stay with Wooyoung forever. 

He felt tears prick in his eyes at the thought and practically ran the rest of the way up the hill, ignoring Wooyoung's protests.

Seonghwa stepped out of the tent, looking around to see if anyone was there yet, thankfully they weren't so it was unlikely that they heard what him and Hongjoong had been up to. 

He was surprised when he seen San run into their campsite, looking incredibly upset. 

"San babe, what's wrong?" He asked, rushing to his side. 

"I don't want to leave Hwa. I'm gonna have to leave sometime and I'm gonna have to leave behind the people I love." His voice was thick with emotion and it broke Seonghwa's heart. 

"It can't be helped baby. You have to take responsibility of your kingdom." He ran a gentle hand through the younger man's hair in hopes that it would calm him. 

"I don't want to take responsibility! I want to stay out here where I'm free! Where I'm with Wooyoung and You and all the others!" He yelled, stepping away from the older man. He pushed Seonghwa's hand away and glared at him. 

Seonghwa was angry now, of course the first thing he mentioned was Wooyoung, not even him. He was the only reason San got as far as he did! 

"Wether you like it or not San, you have a kingdom to rule and responsibilities to take on. You don't always get what you want, and in this case you won't, you won't get to be free out here." His voice was angry and a bit to firm for San's liking. 

"I shouldn't have come to you, you've been acting so strange around me recently that I should've known you would react this way." San said softly, a hint of sadness in his voice, and then he walked away. 

He handled Seonghwa's anger remarkably well, back a few months ago he probably would've cried if the older yelled at him. 

Wooyoung probably helped him with it. 

After that one kiss they'd exchanged a few more every now and then but nothing other than a peck on the lips. 

If that's what Wooyoung wanted than fine, San wouldn't argue, the man he was in love with was willingly kissing him, it made his heart soar.

Sadly, happy moments only last for short periods of time it seemed. 

They had just moved into the woods and were all busy, they had all been helping out around their camp, be it setting up the blankets for the night, cooking, occupying San, or planning their next destination.

They all froze when they heard a branch snap from somewhere in the woods. It scared a few of the boys half to death. 

It was winter now and only a few animals still were up and about and not in hibernation.

Hongjoong brought a finger to his lips hushing all of them as he moved silently towards the forest to examine what it was. 

The only source of light in the dark night was the fire burning a few feet from where Hongjoong now stood. 

He couldn't make out what exactly he was looking at for no more than a single heartbeat, he froze for a brief second before he acted.

It was definitely not anything good he was looking at. 

They came for San. 

He ducked down just in time to dodge an arrow aimed for his skull. 

"Run!" Hongjoong yelled and sprinted back to the others, screaming at them to move their asses. 

San was frozen in place as men emerged from the shadows, they all were clad in his his kingdoms colors and crest. 

They all brandished swords or bows. He was in shock as an arrow was aimed at him .

Why were they trying to kill him!? He was the prince! 

"San move!" Wooyoung scream right as the arrow was fired. 

Thankfully Wooyoung tackled him down just in time and the arrow hadn't hit where it was originally aimed, instead of impaling his chest it hit his shoulder instead. 

It hurt like a bitch and caused San to yell in pain

He was pulled to his feet quickly and was hauled away as fast as possible by Wooyoung. 

San started feeling woozy, his head was fuzzy and his shoulder hurt so bad. His sleeve was sticking to jis shoulder with blood making him uncomfortable. 

Black spots started appearing in his vision the longer they moved through the woods. 

His legs got tired quickly as he tried to move past the fallen branches and everything else that littered the ground of the woods. 

He desperately wanted to sit down and rest his head, he felt plain awful. His entire body ached, his legs felt so weak, like they were about to give out underneath him. 

He wasn't sure if he would make it to wherever it was they were going, especially not at this rate, they were moving so slow that he was surprised that the guards hadn't caught them yet. 

Past the ringing in his ears he could faintly make out someone yelling something at him, though he couldn't make out what it was.

He turned his head towards the sound and looked at the face in confusion. His vision was all weird and distorted and it seemed like everything was morphing into each other when he moved his head.

Before he knew what was happening and was able to catch himself, he was falling face first into the ground. 

The arrow in his shoulder wad plunged further in, making his tears finally spill from his eyes.

The last thing he registered before blacking out was being pulled into Wooyoung's arms, his soft voice in his ear telling him to hang on. 

Seonghwa bit his finger as he stared at the woods, waiting for Wooyoung and San to appear from then. 

They had managed to go the right way towards the town just out of the woods, here they would be able to seak shelter. 

He knew for a fact that the all of them left at the same time so he didn't understand what was taking the two so long to get out. 

Maybe the guards caught up to them and captured them. No, Wooyoung wouldn't allow that, neither would San. 

Seonghwa was counting the seconds until they finally appeared from the woods. 

The sight he was met with was not what he was expecting. 

Wooyoung was carrying San's limp body, his left arm soaked in blood, an arrow sticking out of it. 

Wooyoung looked crazed, and terrified. 

"Don't just stand there! He needs help!" His scream broke Seonghwa from the sort of trance he was in and he rushed to Wooyoung's side to take the younger into his arms and sprint to the towns doctor. 

San was going in and out of consciousness, his eyes fluttering open every now and then, barely comprehending what was going on around him. 

The one thing he fully comprehended was the excruciating pain he suddenly felt in his left shoulder, the arrow had been removed. 

He yelled out in pain and arched his back off the surface he was laid on. His body was pushed back down and held in place as he tried to get up and away frim whoever caused him pain.

His shoulder was assaulted by a burning feeling as the injury was cleaned. He wasn't sure what hurt worse, the arrow being removed or the cleaning process. They were both hell. 

He sobbed in pain as the person touched anywhere near his injury. 

"I'm afraid this is not good. The arrow is poisoned Hwa." He heard Hongjoong, it was quiet and muffled since his ears felt like they were filled with cotton. 

"Can he be saved?"

"I'll do my best, I can provide medicines to help fight the poison but his body will have to do most of the work since they aren't very strong." An old man's voice rang through his ears. 

He didn't want to listen to them anymore, he just wanted Wooyoung. He wanted to hear him, see him, feel him, he wanted Wooyoung to hold him in his arms and tell him it would be okay.

"Hurts." He cired, his voice was raspy and sounded as if he was dying. "Want Woo..young." he forced himself to get the words out, it wasn't easy but he managed. 

He wasn't even aware that Wooyoung was in the room when he spoke, only did he realize he was when he felt his hand get grabbed. 

The hand in his was so familiar he didn't even have to be told who it was, "Wooyoung, don't leave me." He whined. 

"I'm here San, I'm not leaving you anytime soon." He kissed San's knuckles and brushed his sweaty bangs out of his face. 

"I love you Wooyoung." He said, grunting in pain almost immediately afterwards. 

"I love you too San, so much." He said sniffling. 

"I love you San. I want to go to the ocean with you, we can feel the sand under our feet, the cool water on our skin, sounds nice huh? We can build a fire and watch the sunset then look at the stars. I want you to experience these things and i want to be with you while you do, so you've gotta pull through okay? You've gotta pull through San, please." His voice broke as his eyes filled with tears, he wasn't going to cry now, not while San was in such bad shape, he had to stay strong for him. 

San smiled and chuckled, "Okay." He mumbled before blacking out once again, he wasn't exactly sure if he would wake up again but it felt good to finally let his tired eyes rest.

Now that he heard those words leave Wooyoung's lips he could rest easy, even if he never woke up from that rest.

**Author's Note:**

> That was that! 
> 
> Big shout-out to my friend Nate who had to proofread this fir me, they're amazing! 
> 
> Go check their ao3 out, you can find them at RaspberryNCTea
> 
> Come talk to me on Twitter!  
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/jaemins_smile/)


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